On December 9, 1914, fire swept through the factories owned by Thomas Edison in West Orange, New Jersey.

The damage totaled millions of dollars. Practically everything of Edison’s was destroyed, including journals and records of works in progress.

Since Edison was not a young man when this happened, many sent condolences and notes of sympathy, assuming the tragedy would prompt his retirement.

Edison’s response? “I am 67, but I’m not too old to make a fresh start.”

Neither is too late for your fresh start. It doesn’t matter how old you are, or how how much you may have lost in the fires of the past.

Today is a new day, a fresh start is yours for the taking.

I have friends who entered the mission field in their sixties. And friends who have launched new businesses after retirement. Chuck Swindoll planted a new church in Texas at the age of 64. My own dear gray-haired mother became a novelist at the age of 73; she’s working now on her sixth book.

To be clear, though, today’s post isn’t about age.

It’s about having the courage to start the next chapter in your life, regardless of how the previous chapter came to a close.

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? (Isaiah 43:18-19)

God is ready to begin something new in your life. A fresh start. He has forgotten the former things; you can, too.

This new creation will spring up soon. Do you perceive it? Will you receive it?

Did you enjoy this post? It’s one of more than 500 One Minute Messages by Steve May in the illustration archives of PreachingLibrary.com